Final Score: South Africa 22 – 17 England
01. Tendai Mtawarira
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 7 / 6 / 6.5
Fairly quiet game from the big man, but did well in the scrums against a highly rated opponent. Replaced by Coenie Oosthuizen [7 / 7 / 8 / 7] in the 49th minute. The Free Stater piled on the hurt with some very strong scrummaging.
02. Bismarck du Plessis
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 8 / 8 / 7.5
Affected some good turnovers, and aggressively cleaned out at ruck time. Great idea by Heyneke to make him vice captain – he lead by example with a more disciplined approach.
03. Jannie du Plessis
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 7 / 6 / 6
Not bad at scrum time and had a nice run with the ball to set up the Boks’ first try.
04. Eben Etzebeth
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 8 / 7 / 6
Solid if unspectacular debut from the man mountain. Penalised a few times, turned over in the tackle, and must work on delivering clean lineout ball to the scrumhalf, and also running onto the ball at pace. Did a lot more than his 59th minute replacement, Flip van der Merwe [5 / 6 / 5 / 5.5].
05. Juandré Kruger
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 7 / 7 / 7
Edged his fellow debutant lock partner with a cleaner performance in the lineouts, and more accurate contribution in the loose. His composure in his first test bodes well for the future.
06. Marcell Coetzee
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 8 / 6 / 7
An energetic debut performance from the Sharks man, popping up all over the park. Must be difficult to work in tandem with Spies, when the number 8 is not getting stuck in as he should.
07. Willem Alberts
Ou Grote Rating: [8] // Other ratings: 8 / 9 / 8
Heyneke Meyer: “Willem was brilliant. I spoke to him during Super Rugby and told him he was going to start and I wanted him to be at his best. He was awesome.” Alberts has clearly been saving his best for the Boks and put in a MOTM performance with his trademark bullocking runs.
08. Pierre Spies
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 6 / 7 / 5.5
When does Duane Vermeulen return? The underwhelming performance we’ve come to expect from the ‘flat-track bully’ (quoting Nick Mallet). If he is not breaking any first-time tackles, then what is the point? The only thing he brought to the team was some lineout wins.
09. Francois Hougaard
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 7 / 8 / 5
A lot was expected of the talented youngster by Heyneke Meyer, Fourie du Preez and most Bok fans, but he delivered a sub-par performance. Too slow in clearing the ball, and not the accurate kicking game that the gameplan requires. He must either be allowed to play his natural game at number 9 (as opposed to the Du Preez game), be used as an impact scrumhalf off the bench, or be moved back to the wing where he appears to offer more. A good tackle to prevent a try. His 56th minute replacement Ruan Pienaar [7 / 6 / 6 / 6.5] was a lot more composed and assured with the boot.
10. Morné Steyn
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 6 / 6 / 5
Poor kicking from the tee, but fine out of hand. Scored a try.
11. Bryan Habana
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 9 / 9 / 8
At his industrious, if not try-scoring best. Solid kick-chasing, defense and some jinking runs. Allowed the late England try by getting out of position on defense, but still a much-improved overall performance.
12. Frans Steyn
Ou Grote Rating: [7] // Other ratings: 7 / 6 / 6.5
A powerhouse in the midfield – he combined well with Jean de Villiers. Crossed the gainline regularly and offloaded when required.
13. Jean de Villiers
Ou Grote Rating: [8] // Other ratings: 9 / 8 / 7.5
Probably one of his best performances in a Bok jersey – the captaincy obviously agrees with him. Lead from the front and despite being put on his bum by Tuilagi on the odd occasion, he never gave up. According to Heyneke Meyer, Jean’s half-time talk was the catalyst for the turnaround in the Bok performance.
14. JP Pietersen
Ou Grote Rating: [6] // Other ratings: 7 / 7 / 5.5
Started slowly, and got more into the game as he began to gel with his old team-mates.
15. Zane Kirchner
Ou Grote Rating: [5] // Other ratings: 4 / 6 / 5.5
Solid and predictable as always – fielding the ball and hoofing it back. His lack of attacking threat was emphasised when he was replaced by Pat Lambie [7 / 7 / 7 /6] after 40 minutes. The young Natalian was involved in just about every attacking move during his time on the field and must surely be the favourite to start next week.
